Chairing: James Bell

 

The Politics Society met in the Small Lecture Theatre for an address by Bali Rai, who graduated from Southbank University in 1994 with a degree in Politics. Since then he has written a number of books, his latest book ‘Politics – Cutting Through the Crap’, forming the basis for his address to the society.

 

Mr. Rai began by saying “I’m from Leicester, I hate the Conservatives.” A statement, which in hind sight, was a sign of things to come. He then proceeded to explain why he had written the book and what he wanted to achieve from it. He drew particular attention to the fact that the book provided no solutions to the problems he highlighted, and the book is simply intended to evoke response, especially from teenagers. His aim, he said, was to try and make politicians accountable for their actions and bluntly described them as taxpayer’s “gimps”. Furthermore, he said “If another generation is as apathetic as mine, then democracy is in serious trouble”.

 

Mr. Rai then spoke of how he sent 1800 questionnaires to around 8 schools with regards to issues that teenagers see to be most important. There were three issues that stood out substantially: Iraq, Global Warming and the Health Service. He then moved onto the Iraq war and how he views it as completely illegal. He then commented on the hypocrisy that reigns in America and the United Kingdom, highlighting two issues. He first highlighted the fact that America had, in previous years, supplied Iraq with a number of biological and chemical substances such as Anthrax, that were alleged to be contained in weapons used by Saddam Hussein during his brutal regime.

 

Mr. Rai then raised the notion of terrorism, and how we must attempt to step away from the stereotypical photo image of Osama Bin Laden. He did not deny Bin Laden is a terrorist, but spoke about the School of Americas in the U.S.A which teaches guerrilla warfare and terrorism. This reference backed up the hypocrisy that Mr. Rai spoke about. Mr. Rai ended his self proclaimed ‘rant’ by calling Tony Blair, George Bush, Kim Jong-Il and the Israeli Prime Minister terrorists, in light of his aim for people to view terrorism from the point of view of an Iraqi or Palestinian citizen, for example.

 

Mr. Rai then turned to the audience for some feedback, questions and general discussion. A lot of the discussion was focused around the recent events in North Korea and the action America, the UN and China should take.

 

It was fulfilling for all members of the society to hear someone who has a genuine passion for what he believes in and is not scared to say it. Mr. Rai came across as an honest individual who is attempting to raise awareness of his views through his book.

 

All in all a very involving and thoughtful address.

 

 

 

 

The Politics Society was delighted to be host to George Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green and Bo and leader of Respect party.  Formally a Labour MP of 16 years, Mr Galloway was expelled from the Labour party in October 2003 for his outspoken views on the Iraq war.

 

He began by introducing his party and what it stood for.  He described it as ‘the ghost of Labour’s past’, standing for all the traditional Labour values which have been diluted by Tony Blair’s New Labour government.  Respect is a party that values the workers in society, civil liberties, the environment and above all peace.  Mr Galloway is one of the country’s leading anti-Iraq activists.  Respect is the fastest growing political parties in the UK currently having a large amount of success amongst students across the country.  Mr Galloway was pleased with the General Election results in May: winning one seat, coming runners up, third and fourth in others.

 

Mr Galloway described his disgust at the way the workers of Gate Gourmet were treated in September.  Over six hundred (mainly female) workers were sacked without notice in the summer.  The ‘so called Labour government’ has done nothing to repeal anti-union laws introduced by the Conservative government.  Mr Galloway believes we need strong trade unions to fight low pay and redundancy thus the Respect party stands for repealing all anti-trade union laws. 

 

Mr Galloway is also disillusioned by the state of the welfare system again under a so-called Labour government.  For the forth largest economy in the world, Briton’s pensioners are amongst some of the worse off in Europe.  They are more likely to die from flu like illnesses than people living in Siberia!  He is also deeply concerned with the Draconian anti-terror laws that, he believes, are taking away many fundamental civil liberties. 

 

As expected, Mr Galloway devoted much of the time to carefully explaining why he was so fervently anti the Iraq war.  This was in fact surprisingly eloquently orated and very convincing.  His anti-war sentiment is now being felt by more and more people as the trouble in Iraq continues to persist, especially amongst American’s where 58% believe the war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do (according to an Opinion Poll).  He describes Tony Blair, George Bush and all the MPs who voted for military action in Iraq as having ‘blood on their hands’.  In fact, the blood over 100 000 innocent Iraqi civilians and well over 2000 American and British service men who have died due to the invasion.  These costs do not outweigh the possible advantages of toppling Saddam Hussein, who appears not to be stock-piling nuclear weapons.  He also asserts that the war on terror that Blair and Bush are waging has motivated 10 000 more Bin Ladens and the world is now a much less stable place.

 

Mr Galloway used statistics and intellectual argument to apply a forceful and convincing assessment on why he is anti-war.  If truth be told, it was very hard to disagree with virtually all he said regarding the war.

 

Mr Galloway took several questions ranging for his abilities as a politician rather than someone who is merely exploiting latent anti-war tension to his stance on the Middle Eastern crisis (pro Palatine).  Some he answered honestly, some he decided not to comment on. 

 

The meeting was a great success.  It was refreshing to see someone speak with such honest passion and commitment to stand up for what he believes in.  All left being extremely impressed by his fluent oratory and thinking hard about their personal beliefs.  He certainly a formidable politician who refuses to be intimidated by any organisation or individual. 

 

 

Patrick Mercer MP for Newark and Retford was welcomed to NHS Politics Society by a relatively small gathering of students in the Small Lecture Theatre.  This gave the meeting a level of informality that was greatly enjoyed and allowed a discussion style address. 

 

Mr Mercer studied History at Oxford University, served for many years in the army and in 1999 began Defence Reporter for Radio 4’s Today Programme.  In 2001 he captured the Newark constituency from Labour and has been a Conservative MP since.   

 

In 2003 he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Homeland Affairs – an important position in Parliament post 9/11 and more recently 7/7.  Unusually there is no corresponding government official.  Mr Mercer believes that in the current climate there should be a specific government department to deal with the threat of terrorism.  At the moment this comes under the watch of Charles Clarke (Home Secretary) and Hazel Blear (Minster of State for the Home Office), who he believes are busy enough and cannot devote enough time solely to counter-terrorism. 

 

Mr Mercer dramatically highlighted the threat he believes we are under by claiming we were directly at risk by living in Nottingham and Derby.  He informed that there have been several arrests under the Terrorism Act in Nottingham and Derby is the home of the UK militant group Al Muhajiroun. 

 

Mr Mercer believes there are many practical measures that need to be taken in order combat and better prepare the public for terrorist attacks.  His first suggestion was a national boarder police, which would regulate who was entering the country.  Whilst he acknowledged the fact that the 7/7 bombers were all ‘home-grown’ he claimed that a lot of their knowledge and preparation cam in from abroad.  He also asserts we need better integration and community relations with minority groups in the UK.  At present, there is too much alienation and stereotyping that takes places, especially of the Muslim community.  Interestingly, he said that more should be done by Muslims to fit in to the UK culture, using the example of an Islamic school in his constituency. 

Mr Mercer declared that the public needs to be far more educated as to what to do in the event of a terrorist crisis.  He used the analogy that everyone knows what to do when there is a fire (drill), so why shouldn’t we been trained to deal in a terrorist attack.  For example, he suggested that for regular commuters who use the tube in London that their fare prices could be reduced if they agreed to take a course in first aid.  These ideas came from a 13 point programme the Conservatives have drawn up specifically on counter-terrorism.

 

Mr Mercer believes that the Parliamentary issue of terrorism should be dealt with devolved of any party politics.  Unfortunately thus far party politics has prevented a creation of cross-bench committee for terrorism. 

Recently, the Labour government claimed that the issue of ’90 days’ became politicised, rather than something for the good of the county.  Labour’s Terrorism Bill provided an interesting point of discussion, with almost all in the audience disagreeing with the proposed 90 day detention for terrorist suspects. 

 

Finally, Mr Mercer was asked who he was supporting in the Conservative leadership contest.  He revealed he was supporting David Davis, as he had served under Davis (shadow Home Secretary) and was impressed by much of his ‘unrecognised’ work and for that reason was going to show loyalty.  Interestingly he acknowledged that the Tories would never win an election under Davis but that if Cameron won the Conservatives would again be caught up with the sleaze that blighted them through the 90s.  Mr Mercer also added that he forecasts a general election in about 18 months time, with Brown going for his own mandate.

 

The Politics Society very much enjoyed hearing the thoughts of a currently important figure in UK politics.  Not always was there unanimous agreement with what Mr Mercer was suggesting but there was a forum for and informed and robust debate.